Journal of cellular and molecular medicine
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Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is considered as a pre-cancerous condition of the oral mucosa and is highly associated with habitual areca quid chewing. Arecoline is the major alkaloid in areca quid and is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of OSF. Our previous studies have demonstrated that arecoline could induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related factors in primary human buccal mucosal fibroblasts (BMFs). ⋯ Silencing of ZEB1 in fibrotic BMFs from an OSF patient also suppressed the expression of α-SMA and myofibroblast activity. Inhibition of insulin-like growth factor receptor-1 could suppress arecoline-induced ZEB1 activation in BMFs. Our data suggest that ZEB1 may participate in the pathogenesis of areca quid-associated OSF by activating the α-SMA promoter and inducing myofibroblast transdifferentiation from BMFs.